FC Porto stadium: The fundamentals about the Estadio do Dragao

What stadium did Porto play in?

FC Porto used to play in three stadiums before 2004. Below is an overview of each of these three Porto’s home grounds. 

Campo Da Rainha

The first home ground of Porto was Campo Da Rainha, a Queen’s Field. The stadium had a capacity of 600 spectators after being increased later in their first season. It also included a changing room for the players, a bar, a gym, and a VIP tribune. The first match was against Boavista F.C. and it was an exhibition game in 1906, while the first international game was held the next year when Porto met Real Fortuna.

Campo da Constituição

The Campo da Constituição was used when Porto found their initial ground too small for the development of the club after five years. Moreover, the ground of the Campo Da Rainha was meant for the construction of a factory, so the club tried to find a new one to temporarily hire.

It was officially opened in early 1913. The inaugural match in the Campo da Constituição was against Oporto Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club. Despite the larger capacity (20,000), the stadium wasn’t enough for Porto to host many special matches, especially against several football giants like Arsenal or Real Madrid. Therefore, they left the ground in 1952 and moved to their third stadium. 

Estádio das Antas

This is the stadium that Porto used for the longest period of time. The Estadio das Antas was opened on 28 May 1952 and closed in March 2004 with the floodlight system remaining. Oldemiro Carneiro was the architect of this stadium. It had a capacity of 55,000 and included three training grounds and the offices of the club in front of the stadium. 

Estadio das Antas before being demolished

What is the current home ground of FC Porto?

Currently, FC Porto are playing in the Estádio do Dragão as their home ground. They have actually played in this stadium since 2003. 

How it was built?

The Estádio do Dragão was actually built in place of the previous ground of Porto, the Estadio das Antas. It was completed within two years, from 2001 to 2003. It was designed by architect Manuel Salgado and cost €97,755,318 with almost 20% sponsored by the government. 

The inaugural match was on November 16, 2003, against Barcelona. It was also the debut match of legend Lionel Messi when he reached his 16th year old. Porto had a short time coming back to play in the Estadio das Antas due to the turf problem in the Estadio do Dragao until early 2004.  

Estádio do Dragão

Specification

The Estadio do Dragao has a 115 x 68 m dimension and a capacity of 50,035 seats, making it the third-largest stadium among other Portuguese football venues. A recorded attendance was 52,000 in a match against FC Barcelona on 16 November 2003, when Porto defeated their rival with a 2-0 win. It is rated a category four stadium by UEFA, so there have been several international games held in this stadium. The following section will give you more details about international matches that the Estadio do Dragao has hosted. 

International host 

Matches of Portugal national team that have been played in the Estadio do Dragao

2021 UEFA Champions League Final

The initial stadium that was chosen for the final of the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League was the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. However, due to the pandemic of the COVID-19, this Turkish stadium is saved for the 2023 Champions League’s final, while the 2021 season was eventually held in the Estadio do Dragao with the triumph belonging to Chelsea.

Chelsea celebrated their triumph in the 2021 Champions League in the Estadio do Dragao

References

Wikipedia

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